Feeding device for ensilage cutters and the like



May 13, 1930. F. J. uLLocK FEEDING' DEVICE FOR ENSILAGE CTTERS AND THE LIKE Filed sept. 26, "1927 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 13, 1930 UNITED "sfra'iss` PATENT oi-*Fics anni)y J. BULLocK-OF snORTsvIL-LE, NEW YORK, .essie-NOR To yranno MACHINE COM- PANN, oFksi-ionrsvl-LLE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION on NEW YORK FEEDING DEVIGEYEOR ENSIJAGE CUTTERSAND, TA1-IE LIKE i Application iled September 26,1927. Serial No. 222,135.

This inventionrelates to feedingdevices for ensilage cutters 4and the like, applicable to specifically different types of cutter. It is designed-to feed to the cutter certainly and rapidly, string-y materials suoli as' hay, alfalfa, pea vines, and the like, and to recover and fe'edfto the blower, leaves-and small stemswhich; are apt tobe severedffrom the larger stemszor stalks. kThis portion of the cropV 5.10 treated is ordinarily lost unless special means such as thoseoontemplated by the present invention are provided to feedsuch small severed parts to the blower which customarily forms partv of the cutter.

Generally stated, ``an `ensilage cutter .includes a fan housing, a combined fanfand rotary cutter mounted to rotate in saidxhousing,'fiXed knives with which the'rotary-cutters co-act, and somel means for feeding the materiallto Ithecutte'r. rllhe material. is :thus cut as mit entersvtherhousing, vand is :discharged through. a-tangential Vspout from the housing by therblower action. v

In a'prior patent ofBullock andBillings, No..1,`168,9321dated.J an-uary 1 8, 1916, there is described `a feeding mechanism which includes i-aliorizontal :roll 'having ingersnor prongs slidable thr'ough its Aperiphery and connected at their Iinner'ends to an -aXis dis- I placedlfromtlie axis of the ifeed roll in suoli manner thatthe fingers protru'deon the outer orI entrance 'side of the roll,- andare progressively yretracted as -theyi-swing with. the` roll to fthefinnerfor `discharge side thereof. )The ingersrthus engage the fmaterial being fed and fdraw it beneatht-heroll, freeing .the same; at theupointfof entrance into the vcutter and avoiding:anytendencyV to wind the .fed

material around the :feed roll.

:The present invention contemplatesithe addition to la. .dev-ice Ao f llthe l:characterjust described, .of two-V similar verti'calrolla .so that the-material tgobe fedislcompressed .fromboth sides :and i from .the.top,-fand11hel'd in feeding contact .with the .apron upon -fwhich it rests. In :this .way :fthe vfeed is rendered much more positive.

Another :feta-ure of the present invention is a suction devicecoinbined with the fan. Any Afeeddev-ice .ff-for an ensilage cutter involves some sort of feed table,.and commonly, some conveying device associated itherewith. In

the device illustratedthisgconsists of a travelling feeding apronwhich carries :the material to and beneath the horizontal feed roll. In

such deviceslthereis commonlya short interval between the feed table andthe main feed roll, or between the feed table 'and'theentrance to the cutter, and at this point leaves and shortV piecesiare apt to drop away from the feed and be lost. They are recoveredby VsoY a .suction nozzle which `is positioned .tovreceive them, and `which .is connected-tothe air supply or suction-ofthe fan. In prior devices the housing was formed fwithone or more openings to supply-airto the -fan,while, j in the present invention a single air feed opening is used tovwhich the air suction nozzle justdescribed is connected. Thus lleaves and otherr pieces too small'to require chopping are fed directly into-the fanand passed through the dischar-gewithout the necessity of passing-through the cutter at all.` f The preferrediembodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in-which: l

`Figure l is a perspectiveview of :a cutter Fig. 5 is anelevationshowing the vertical feed 4rolls and theiridrivingconne'ctions;

\Fig.-6 isa diagrammaticsectionof acombined fan. and-cutterv with its housing.

.In the vabove figures, details" of thecutter mechanism andofthe drive to such parts of the ,feed mechanism as are .common in theart are omitted to simplify the drawings.

`Referring particularly to :Figs.'l and 2, the feed apron, which is of ordinary construction, isillustrated atzll. AThis ris sup- -tiiied,'being provided with a series of fingers 19 which are longitudinally slidable through openings in the periphery of said roll and which are connected to an axis 21 offset from the axis 22 of roll 18. The axis is offset toward the entrance end of the machine, so

that the fingers are retracted to the maximum extent as they approach the main upper feed roll `16. The main feed rolls 14 and 16 are driven by any suitable means, but this is not lillustrated as such driving mechanism may assume various forms and the particular form thereof is not materialto the present invention.

. Mounted in upright positions at opposite sides of the apron 11 are two auxiliary feed `rolls 23, approximately tangent to the opposite edges of said apron. These rolls are supported at their lower ends in bearings 24 fixed on the frame of the machine,vand in these bearings there turn trunnions 25 iixed totherolls'23.l Fast on the lower ends of the trunnions are bevely gears 26 which are driven by reversely arranged pinions 27f on a cross shaft 28. This shaft carries a sprocket 29 which is driven by a sprocket Vchain 30 (see Fig. 2)` from a companion sprocket fast to roll 14. Thereverse arrangement of the pinions 27 ensures rotation of the rolls 23 in reverse angular directions. VAtthe upper ends ofthe rolls 23 are trunnions 31 which are swiveleol in bearings 32 connected by a On this tie-rod there is. mounted for free rotation a roller `34. vThis roller serves tovholddown and to guide into the space aboveapron 11 and between the rolls 23, thematerial fedfto/.the cutter, thus eni curing its proper delivery to and through the feed opening of the casing of the combined fan and cutterl wheel. The tie-rod` 33 supports the rolls `23-against the .outward thrust of the material being fed between the rolls.

Swiveled inthe trunnions 25 and 31 ofv'each of the rolls 23 is aV shaft 35 having an offset portion '36 onwhichare swiveled the inneiI ends of the fingers or prongs 37. Shafts -35 are` heldl against rotation bylugs 35a A lingers are retracted as they approach the horizontal feed roll 18. VThey thus have their maximum protrusion on the entering side relatively toapron 11, and act to crowd the material treated toward the center of the -apron so that it will enter between the ver tical rolls 23 and be caught by the fingers on the horizontal roll 18. These fingers also hold the material down on the apron so that it will readily pass between the same and the roller 18 and enter smoothly between the rolls 14 and 16.

At each side of the apron 11 there are inclined conning boards 38 which terminate in arcuate guards 39 surrounding the lower portions of the vertical rolls 23. These prevent the vmaterial from passing beneathjthe apronY 11, and assist in directing it into the main feedrolls 14y and 16.

The housing for the cutter'and fan structure is mounted just beyond the main feed rolls 14 and 16, being indicated at 41, and is of the familiar snail s-hell type having a tangential discharge passage 42. The fan consists of a hub 43 mounted on a drive shaft 44 whose axis is parallel with the longitudinal center line of the feed apron 11 and slightly above the working run thereof. Mounted on the hub 43 is a disk-like spider 45 on the periphery of which are mounted a plurality of radial fans or fan blades 46. These operate as the ordinary centrifugal fan in the housing 41, the discharge passing ont through the tangential opening 42.` The cutter blades7 preferably three in number, are shown at 47 and their cutting edgesvare secant to their circular path, thus producing a shearing cut in a familiar manner, with a fixed blade indicated at 48 (Fig. 2).

The -construction vof the fan and blades so far described is not a feature of the present invention, and may assume various different forms. The fan housing 41 is preferably made in two parts, divided horizontally on the axis of shaft 44, andthe lower. half is made adjustable to afford proper clearance for the fan blades 46. The mode of adjustment is illustrated in Fig. 4 in'which 49 indicates a portion of the framework of the machine, and the lower or Vadju-stable portion of the housing is indicated at 41a. This portion 41a of the housing `carries a bracket-51 connected to frame member 49 by a stud 52 having four nuts 53, one above and one below the frame member 49, and oneV above and one below Abracket 51, and affords a convenient modeof adjusting the height of section 41a.

Thefan housing 41, 41a, is air-tight, the usuall central air inlet port being omitted, andthe air entering through a duct `54 (see Figsrl and 3). This duct extends beneath the interval between roll 12 ,which carries the discharge end of apron 11 and the main` feed roll 14. .Loose materialsuch as leaves and short stems falling at this point will be drawn by the air suction into the elongated slot 55 provided for this purpose. The slot 55 is the sole port for air admission to the fan and the duct 54 enters the housing 41 as near the center -thereof as is conveniently possible, and at any rate within the circular path of the fan blades 46. In this way a pronounced suction is produced through the duct 54 and slot 55, and by the normal action of the fan forming a part of an ordinary ensilage cutter. Thus the suction inherentlyy erally and ensure a positive and rapid 'feed' to the main feed rolls of the device; and further, the combination with a conventional feeding device of an air suction device operated by the fanforming a part of an ordinary ensilage cutter, said suction device serving to salvage small particles which would otherwise escape from the machine.

The exact form ofthe ensilage cutter is not material, nor is the invention limited to any particular mode ofvdriving the feed from the cutter and blower mechanism, it being well understood in tlie4 art that the entire machine is customarily driven from a single source of power.

In addition tothe suggested possibilities of variation in the structure, others will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and no limitation to the specific construction illustrated is implied except as set out in the claims.

In the drawing I have shown the rolls 23 arranged to rotate about vertical axes and this yis the preferred construction. However, true vertical position of theaxes is not essential, and reasonable departure therefrom is permissible and is to be understood as comprehended by the claims.

l/Vhat is claimed is:.- f

l. In a feeding device for ensilage cutters and the like, the combination of a traveling feed apron; a pair ofV power driven feed rollers mounted onsubstantially vertical axes at opposite sides of said apron;l fingers mounted to be projected through the peripheries of said rollers; and means operable by the rotation of said rollers to project and retract said fingers as the rollers rotate, the

' fingers serving to force the material to be fed toward the center of the apron and between the rollers.

2. In a feeding device for ensilage cutters and the like, the combination of a traveling l feed apron; a feed roller mounted on a horizontal axis labove said apron; a pair offeed rollers mounted on vertical axes at opposite sides of said apron; fingers mountedto be middle of the apron and to compress it against said apron.

3. In a feeding device forv ensilage cutters and the like, the combination of a traveling feed apron; a feed roller mounted on a hori- Zontal axis above said apron; a pair 0f feed rollers mounted on vertical axes at opposite Vsides of said apron Vand in advance of the first-named roller; fingers mounted to be projected through the'peripheries of all three rollers; and means operable by the rotation of said rollers to project and retract said fingers as the rollers rotate, said fingers serving to force the fed material toward the middle of the apron and then to compress it against said apron. j

.4. In a feeding device for ensilage cutters and the like, the combination of a support for guiding the material to the cutter; a pair of power driven feed rolls vmounted on sub stantially vertical axes at opposite sides of said support; fingers mounted to be projected through the peripheries of said rolls; and means operable by the rotation of said rolls to project and retract said fingers as the rolls rotate, the lingers serving to force the material to be fed toward the center of the support and between the rolls toward the cutter.v

5. In a feeding .device for ensilage cutters andthe like, the combination of a support for vguiding material to the cutter; a feed roller mounted on a horizontal axis above said support; a pair of feed rollers mounted on vertical axes at opposite sides of said supports; fingers mounted to be projected through the peripheries of all three rollers; meansoperable by the rotation of said rollers to project and retract said fingers as the rollers rotate, said fingers serving to draw material between and through the rollers; and means for driving said rollers in unison.

FRED J. BULLOCK.

projected through the peripheries of all three y rollers; and means operable by the rotation .of said rollers to project and retract said fingers as the rollers rotate, said fingers serving toforce the fed material towardy the 

